When someone passes away, Facebook turns their Facebook Page into a memorial on which friends and family are allowed to post messages. However, Facebook refuses to allow anyone access to account login information, so something else can be done with the page.

In 2012, a German woman sued to gain access to her daughter's Facebook page. The daughter had died at the age of 15, after being hit by a train.

The mother wanted to access the Facebook account to look for signs of depression, so she could see if her daughter had committed suicide and stepped in front of the train on purpose.

A lower German court had previously ruled that the mother should be given access, since under the inheritance law, the mother inherited the page from her daughter. However, an appellate court has ruled against the mother, stating that the daughter's right to privacy takes priority over the mother's inheritance rights.

This ruling has no effect in the U.S., but it is important to show the lengths that Facebook will go to block family members from accessing the accounts of the deceased.

06/29/2017

There are two possible remedies to undue influence in creating estate plans.

The Texas Supreme Court recently had the opportunity to resolve an issue of influence in an estate plan. However, it chose against resolving the issue, according to the Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog in "Unanswered Questions in Texas."

Instead of suing the estate in probate court, as is done in undue influence cases, in a tortious interference with inheritance rights, the person accused of improper influence is sued directly for the damages that he or she has caused.

Depending on the jurisdiction and the facts of the case, this is a cause of action that can be used instead of or in conjunction with an undue influence claim.

The Supreme Court in Texas was asked to determine whether the cause of action exists in Texas. The lower Texas' courts are split on the issue.

Instead of doing that, however, the court declined to do so. It determined that where undue influence exists, a constructive trust is a sufficient remedy for damages.

06/28/2017

Washington D.C. has followed the trend of some states and reduced their estate taxes. It was done, in part, out of fear that older wealthy people will move to other states that do not have the tax at all, according to Forbes in "District of Columbia Slashes Estate Tax."

While not a state, the District of Columbia made plans to do the same thing in 2014. However, it was concerned about meeting budgets, so it set revenue goals that, if met, would automatically cause an increase in the estate tax exemption.

As a result, in 2017 the exemption has gone up to $2 million and it will rise to meet the federal estate tax exemption of $5.49 million in 2018.

The issue is not without local controversy, since some people believe the revenue goals are not being met. However, the City Council recently rejected an amendment that would have kept the estate tax exemption at its current rate.

The council will have to vote again on the issue, but it is unlikely it will change its opinion.

For those who are opposed in general to estate taxes, this is good news. However, it still remains uncertain what will happen with the estate tax at the federal level.

06/26/2017

Couples sometimes referred to as "Dual-income no children" or "DINKs" for short, often believe they do not need to do any estate planning. However, they are wrong, according to Wealth Management in "DINKs Need Estate Planning Too."

Couples, where both spouses have incomes and no children, still need to determine what will happen to their assets after they pass away. Without an estate plan, the assets of the first spouse who passes away, will typically go to the surviving spouse. However, what will happen to the assets after the second spouse passes?

That is not clear.

Nor is it clear what would happen if both spouses pass away in the same accident.

Couples without children might want to set up charitable trusts. They might want to make sure certain that other family members receive an inheritance from them (or do not receive an inheritance from them).

Then again, such couples might want to do something completely out of the ordinary. The specifics of what it is wanted do not matter, since they will not happen without an estate plan.

We would be happy to guide you through creating an estate plan that meets your unique circumstances, with or without children.

In fact, 13.8 million Americans are expected to have Alzheimer's by 2050.

Consequently, families need to be prepared to deal with the disease now more than ever.

Over the same time period, the number of people who passed away from Alzheimer's at home nearly doubled to 24.9 percent.

It is difficult enough for families to handle the disease when the sufferer is being treated in a nursing home or other facility. However, when the patient is still living at home, families can have even bigger issues and often need more support than is available.

What these numbers reveal is that the U.S. needs to plan for the care that all of these expected patients will be needing, as well as including support for the caregivers at home.

It has commonly been believed that people choose assisted suicide to end their pain and suffering. However, the study found that the actual reason terminally ill people choose to end their own lives is psychological.

Most who choose the option are used to being in control over their own lives and they have the education and wealth to have that control. They also want to be in control of when their lives end.

This might change the debate on the controversial issue, since it might be possible that psychological treatment could assist terminally ill patients when evaluating if assisted suicide is right for them.

While it is unlikely the two sides will resolve their differences any time soon, many states are moving forward with legislation to allow physician assisted suicide and laws allowing the practice have passed in a few states.

06/20/2017

The Heirs of the Baby Boomer generation may not receive all of the wealth.

Baby Boomers who have wealth, hope it will go to their children and grandchildren. However, it appears that not enough of the generation have taken the steps necessary to ensure that their wealth passes on as desired, according to the Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog in "When Wills Become Won'ts."

The source of the problem is that a significant number of heirs and beneficiaries think the distribution of estates is unfair. That can be bad for an estate by itself, but it is made even worse by the fact that a significant number of parents have not discussed their estate plans with their children.

When a person first hears about an estate distribution after a family member passes away and believes that distribution to be unfair, then the main ingredients are present for a battle over the estate in court.

Estate litigation is very costly and can bleed an estate of much of its assets.

Much of the Baby Boomers’ wealth could end up going toward litigation.

Our expert estate planning attorneys would be happy to guide you in creating an estate plan that fits your unique circumstances.

Wills are not necessarily set in stone after someone passes away. Under some circumstances, such as tax law modification, probate courts are able to change a deceased person's will, which is called "reforming the will."

If the provisions of the will as written make it impossible to fulfill the clear intent of the deceased, then the court can change those provisions to fulfill the intent.

Reformation is rarely used, because it is difficult to divine the intent of someone who has passed away.

The idea is this: if the intent is clear that the deceased wished to minimize the tax burden on the estate and the tax laws have changed since the will was drafted, then a will can be reformed to fulfill that intent.

However, people should not rely on the possibility that a court will use reformation for this purpose.

Instead, when tax laws change, people should go back to their estate planning attorneys and update their wills to reflect the new laws. This ensures that their wills do fulfill their intent, which is better than relying on a court to decide whether the wills do or do not.

Changes to federal tax laws are expected soon.

Our expert estate planning attorneys would be happy to advise you on keeping your estate plan up to date with current laws.